Flying in wind

[KingDad1985]

It's very rare to have zero wind. I stress about flying in the wind and crashing. What's the highest wind the p4 can fly in. ?

 

[Lico]

You shouldn't have any problems flying at 20 mph or below... Drones can fight the wind much better than mid to big size Rc airplanes. I prefer to fly at 15 mph or less...

 

[KingDad1985]

Wind the wind hits the drone is it common for the drone to ascend ?

 

[FlashBuddy]

Wind hit my P4 at the lake and pushed it pretty darned close to in the water. I was up about 5 feet so not much wiggle room.

NoCo Drones

 

[WWK888]

Wind hit my P4 at the lake and pushed it pretty darned close to in the water. I was up about 5 feet so not much wiggle room.

NoCo Drones

I would bet the VPS had more to do with that than the wind.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[KingDad1985]

Is it common for wind to push the p4 up or down instead of side to side?

 

[coco777]

Is it common for wind to push the p4 up or down instead of side to side?

no

 

[KingDad1985]

no

TheN mine must be defective because it seems to behave this way

 

[coco777]

The P4 should lower the throttle to counter any vertical wind lift (i believe they call them thermals).

 

[KingDad1985]

The P4 should lower the throttle to counter any vertical wind lift (i believe they call them thermals).

Ok. Well mine doesnt keep ascending. I'm talking about maybe a foot or two maybe 3 feet of rise then it lowers back to original position. Is that common?

 

[Philip First]

I have flown mine in 24+. Handles great, slow into the wind but pretty stable. I put my floats on and that's a different story. Jumpy twisting and very scary.

 

[jwt873]

When the wind gets up around 20 Mph (30 Km/h) it will buffet the P4 quite a bit. It's not uncommon for it to move around a few feet horizontally or vertically as it tries to stay in place.

 

[Sky Pirate]

I would suggest in strong wind you be extra careful where you take off from , a gust near the ground can be a turbulent affair, you really need to get off quickly (and safely) without faffing about. at 10 to 15 feet things should smooth out somewhat, but look at the terrain around you before you even get the bird out of the box. Wind flows somewhat like water over a river bed. lumps and bumps (trees, buildings,ridges and valleys) cause the air to be turbulent. But I will say the P4 is a very steady flying machine, even in gusty wind. I also recommend you practice a 'hand catch' often so if it's turbulent when you bring the P4 back you don't need to get it onto the floor where there may be more turbulent air. In a way height is safety especially if there is turbulence low down, as in 'wind shadow' or maybe even convergence. There's videos on youtube regarding 'hand catch' but BE CAREFULL, DON'T GRAB AT IT and MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT HAVE IT AT HEAD/FACE HEIGHT EVER TO CATCH IT!

Stay safe. if in doubt DON'T FLY why risk it?

 

[eroomomni]

I was flying out in the Mojave desert yesterday with 30+MPH gusts with no problem with my P4. I was flying with the wind and hit a top speed of 61.7MPH. Flying back into the wind was slow but not a problem.

 

[David Cooke]

"Hand Catch" is the only safe recovery for you and the bird.

Establish a hover about at about 7ft . . .and away from you . .(see my avatar) . . take your thumb OFF the throttle lever ( just near it) . . approach it from below, grasp the leg firmly and throttle to idle. . .BEFORE you try to move it! . . especially in gusty winds. Just watch what it's doing as you approach to grab it.... and only AFTER it has held station for a few seconds. Day or night, it's the best way to save tipping over , damaging blades needlessly or bouncing the gimble. . . you're right though . . not good at eye level.
ps you should always use a neck strap so you can never drop the controller.

 

[Whitwellian]

And as an added note to above, make sure that the neck strap does not have one of those stupid safety clasps in the middle.
I foolishly used one of those that was intended for use to carry keys/ID cards - the clasp gave way . . . Result, smashed tablet.

 

[Patrick]

TheN mine must be defective because it seems to behave this way

calibrate everything again. IMU on a PERFECTLY level surface. RC and compass. if i see my P4 drifting calibration fixes it.

 

[David Cooke]

I always wear the dji double shoulder strap . . solid metal clasp that is actually hard to open without two hands . . that's good.

 

[Sky Pirate]

By way of a kind of illustration to what I said above about turbulence I've put a "short" video here of a local sunset. The wind was really quite light, maybe 10-12 mph (nothing at all for the Phantom) but if you watch closely nearer to the end as I get near to the ground (2-3 feet) the video starts to pitch and toss just a little (the gimbal is doing it's job well & the gyro system). It was due to the local terrain being undulating where we were making the wind do the same. On a stronger windy and gust filled day it would be naturally more noticeable.

take a look at this "short Vid" I did. Cut n' paste it to your browser

 

[AsiaFlyer]

In strong wind (out of VPS range) mine rises up, never had the problem with the P3